Saturday, December 31, 2011

I've finished a few things, started a few things, and still have a few things underway. Here's the knitting that I've finished since the last post. Maybe I'll get organized and post the spinning that I've done tomorrow.

I last reported on the hat and booties made for my banker friend's new baby. They were finished in time to give to him when he was just a couple of weeks old and I was happy to receive a photo of the baby wearing his new hat. As the youngest of four boys (!) I thought it would be nice if he had a couple of items made just for him.

I made a quick hat for a neighbor in the desert who was going home to the wilds of northern Canada for Christmas. He saw me knitting one day and asked if I was making him a hat, so I did. Sorry for the fuzzy photo; it wasn't stored on this computer and it fuzzed up when I imported it from Flickr or Ravelry. You get the idea.

I made some socks for my sister out of Madelinetosh Sock in the colorway Shoreline, since that's the city she lives in. Same problem with the photo, so sorry about the fuzz.

My last two objects were gifts; socks for my massage therapist and a scarf for the Princess. The socks were made from Vesper self-striping yarn in the colorway Sugar Maple. This yarn is fun to knit with and stripes up nicely, but there are little white flecks at the ends of the color repeats sometimes. I guess that's why self-striping yarn is hard to come by; it's hard to make. The afterthought heels continue the stripes nicely but they're not my favorite to make. Maybe they'll grow on me if I do a few more.

I made this scarf out of an Old Shale lace pattern and I used Wollmeise 100% merino sock yarn in the Lavendel colorway. It is the most beautiful deep purple. I tried to adjust the color so it shows correctly and it looks pretty close. I hope she likes it.

I'm enrolled in a class at Madrona Fiber Arts in February with Franklin Habit to learn to take better photos of knitwear. I definitely need to learn how to set up a shot so it looks attractive and also how to adjust color and focus. Maybe I need a new camera?

I started a sweater a couple of days ago. It was one of those things where I wanted to make the pattern with some yarn I had.....the fact that I'm not sure of my gauge and if I have enough yarn are two items I'll worry about later. Knitting magic happens sometimes, right? I'll start measuring, think good thoughts, and hope for the best. That's what we do, isn't it?

As the year ends on a grey day here in the Pacific Northwest, I look forward to a happy, healthy 2012 with lots of knitting and spinning. Best wishes to all of you, my friends and family; let's all be the best people we can in the coming year.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

I've had a request for Thanksgiving photos, so here they are. We had a lovely holiday with 19 family members and friends joining us for dinner. We strung together three long tables so everyone would feel included.

DH advises future SIL on proper method of setting up tables.

Big Bro and Little Sis enjoyThanksgiving eve.

AR needs to learn how to smile better.

Buddy's already looking for crumbs.

Cool turkey centerpiece made from bread that AR found at a local bakery.

Gram always closes her eyes.

Apparently purple was the color of the day.

Gram looks happy now.

Good looking kids, huh?

There's DH waaaay down there at the end.

A fun bunch, great food, a wonderful gathering. I'm thankful for family.

The fun and games continue into the next day and a good time is had by all.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

What is the world coming to? I've actually used dpns for another project.

Baby items just seem to be more manageable on short double points than on circulars for me, so hence the break in tradition. Besides, it's good to be flexible, I think.

I learned of a new baby the other day, and since we'll be meeting with his dad on Tuesday, I decided to whip up a hat and pair of socks. I had some leftover Hazelknits Aritisan Sock in the Hometown Football colorway (Seattle Seahawks) and I thought this would be a good use for it. It's fun to be able to do a quick project now and then and hopefully the set will be a welcome addition to the little one's wardrobe.

I'll let a teddy bear try on the items when they're done, so you can see the result.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

One thing I miss when I'm in the desert is the variation in colors and textures that we have in the Northwest. I returned to Seattle early enough in November to see the end of the fall colors. These last few days have been windy and rainy, so now the leaves are pretty much gone. I enjoyed them immensely while they lasted.

One thing I don't enjoy is the aftermath of the leaves from the large wisteria, which continue to fall for seemingly forever and insist on blowing into my kitchen.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A month or so ago, I read about a new pattern book that was available for pre-order. It was called Coastal Knits and is a collaboration between Hannah Fettig and Alana Dakos. I listen to Alana's podcast, Never Not Knitting, and have planned to make Hannah's Featherweight Cardigan for some time. Somewhat unusually for me, I went to the website, looked at the information on this new book, and immediately ordered it. The pre-order came with advance copies of two patterns, and discount codes for each of the designer's websites. The pattern I liked immediately was the Rocky Coast Cardigan.

A KAL started on Ravelry in the Coastal Knits group almost immediately. This was in the first part of September, and the book wasn't scheduled to ship until October 15th. I joined up, searched the stash for some appropriate yarn, and plunged ahead. I have a bunch of red Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn that I've been waiting to use. It tried to be a pullover sweater some years ago, but there was a problem with huge sleeves and it ended up back in balls in the storage bin. I decided it would be perfect for this project. I swatched and got started. The sweater has lots of cables, but it really isn't a difficult pattern.

The pattern calls for some positive ease, and as I knitted I found out why. The yarn I used combined with all the cables resulted in a lot of pulling in of the garment. The body was okay, but when I picked up stitches and started the first sleeve, it was soon apparent that it was going to be too tight. I ripped it back and picked up more stitches and knit it again. I didn't decrease as much as was called for and it worked out pretty well. The yarn is super soft and warm and it will be a great sweater if it stretches just a tiiiiiny bit more so I can wear it with a shirt with sleeves! I tried it on for the photos the day I left for the desert, and it's waiting at home for me.

The book should also be waiting at home for me by now, and I look forward to starting some of the other patterns in it.

In other news, this roadrunner was sitting on our patio this morning and the hummingbirds didn't like it at all.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

I flew into Palm Desert on Sunday to join DH for a few weeks. We had had a couple of really nice days at home (60 F!) but I was looking forward to a little bit more sunshine. Well, I got my wish and it looks like this is the warmest part of the country at the moment. Yesterday was 103, today will be the same, then we'll start to cool off into the upper 90s. Not exactly what I was expecting, but who am I to complain? At this time of year the sun goes down early and the nights cool off so it's much nicer than it was here in August or early September. Knitting on small projects by the pool was never better!

I had to fly in via San Francisco, which is always dicey due to possible weather issues. True enough, our flight was scheduled to be delayed due to cloud cover, then suddenly put back on track when the weather cleared. I saw a cool shadow of the plane in the bay as we approached.

I didn't have to change planes as we were scheduled to leave in about 45 minutes after landing. That didn't work out so well...the crew closed the doors and we pushed back from the gate, taxied a little bit, then waited and waited. Looking out the window into the bay as other jets approached and landed was exciting.

There was a long line of planes waiting to take off. We sat and sat and finally the pilot announced that we were waiting for the Blue Angels to land and then we could leave. They flew by, landed 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and we were able to leave.

Flying out, San Francisco looked like a fairy kingdom in the clouds. My photos don't capture quite how cool it looked, but I tried.

As I turned my camera to airplane mode, it gave me a message about not taking pictures on takeoff and landing. Oops.

I knit quite a bit on a gift sock I'm making on the flight. The handy tray table clips are nice for pattern holders if your pattern isn't too big.

I think my twin, Cathy, mentioned this idea in one of her posts awhile ago, too. Great minds continue to think alike!

I'm working on lightweight items here in the heat; the socks, the reinvented Pi shawl that I ripped out after the fair project disaster, and I started a couple of new projects. Surprise! The Pi shawl now is going to be the Gull Wings version of the EZ anniversary shawl. Of course, I already got distracted and made the 144 stitch section one repeat larger than the pattern calls for, but I don't think anyone will notice.

This is a skein of Wollmeise lace that came from the sale in the shop last summer. It's much darker than this photo shows; dark grey-blue and charcoal. It's an unnamed skein and completely beautiful.

I had a lovely skein of yarn that I had spun last year and I wanted to make a shawl that would highlight the color progression that I have.

I decided to make the Holden Shawlette and so far I like it. The fiber (nummanumma's Alpaca/Merino blend) is incredibly light and soft and I'm enjoying the knitting so far as I watch the subtle change in colors.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

In looking back at my last few posts, I noticed that I hadn't documented finished objects since May or something like that. Yes, I showed my fair items, but some of those had been finished for awhile, and some of them hadn't appeared here. Since the reason I started a blog was to document my knitting, here goes.

Artichoke Socks: This was a mystery sock from back in May. I finished them, love the yarn, but wasn't too happy with the way mine came out...yarn over issue that made the holes differing sizes. I have since figured out how to fix this, but wasn't successful when making the socks.

Boneyard Shawl: Finished this with the Knitgirllls spinalong/knitalong.

Wendyknits Summer Mystery Shawl: I made this out of The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos, which is wonderful yarn.

My first crocheted potholder! I took a crochet class and made this and sent it to the Princess. I know she was impressed.

My handspun Pogona. This Juliespins fiber was supposed to be a sweater, but didn't really want to. It made a nice shawl and I have some left to make into something smaller.

My first crocheted dishcloth!

My Daybreak out of Wollmeise. I wore this at Sock Summit and had compliments.

My Earth and Sky (Stephen West mystery shawl). If I'd known how this was going to look, I probably would have chosen different colors, but it's growing on me.

Two pairs of socks, both self-striping. This one has an afterthought heel.